Eagles Lose Heartbreaker in Home Opener

The Eastern Washington University volleyball team battled Weber State for four tough, tight games before succumbing, 30-27, 27-30, 32-30, 31-29, on Thursday evening (Sept. 13). The match was Eastern's home opener and each teams' Big Sky Conference opening contests.

Mandy Daniels had 29 digs in the match, the highest total attained by an Eagle this year. Hayley Hillsonce again led the team in kills with 19 (the eighth time in 10 contests).

"We've got two people that are really coming through for us right now, and that's Hayley Hills and Mandy Daniels," interim head coach Irene Matlocksaid. "Those two are really helping us a lot."

The visiting Wildcats (4-4, 1-0 BSC) grabbed a 19-12 lead in the first game before the Eagles rallied with a 12-4 run to take its first lead of the stanza, 24-23. After taking a 27-25 advantage, Weber State responded with the final five points to claim the win.

The second game saw Eastern (1-9, 0-1 BSC) also take a big lead, see it diminish and then secure the game win. A 22-15 edge became 27-25 before the Eagles prevailed, 30-27.

The third game was the tightest of the night, as neither team went up by more than four points (14-10 Eastern). Weber State's first advantage came at 18-17. From that point on, the largest advantage attained was three by the Wildcats, 26-23 and 27-24. The Eagles would dramatically rally from deficits of 28-26, 29-28 and 30-29 to tie the score each time before losing, 32-30.

Eastern grabbed a commanding 13-5 lead in the fourth game, but Weber State then went on a 15-6 spurt to take a 20-19 lead. Neither team would be able to get more than two points from the other the rest of the way before WSU scored the final two points to win. A Rosskill staved off match point at 29-28.

"We had a mental breakdown a little; we missed three serves in a row," Matlock said. "These things aren't acceptable. That's just learning how to compete. We just have to cut down on the errors."

Eastern had only played two games in 2007 which went past 30 points before doubling that total in tonight's contest.